BHSS Students Honor the Memory of Holocaust Survivors

In partnership with the Center, the religious school at Beth Haverim Shir Shalom in Mahwah has been working all year to produce an online exhibit about the lives of Holocaust survivors who settled in our region. The initiative was based upon a class assignment undertaken by Ramapo students in Fall 2002. We divided the students into four groups and assigned each a Holocaust survivor testimony selected from a collection of 136 testimonies recorded by the Center for the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies at Yale University. The students produced StoryMaps, narrative mapping tools, to share what they learned with their friends, family, and the community.

Holocaust Testimony Project Presentation, BHSS Religious School
May 6, 2024 at 7:00 – 8:00 pm in Friends Hall, Ramapo Campus
Video from the Event

The company that owns StoryMaps discontinued the application and rolled it into their subscription-based package. Unfortunately, we lost access to these exciting and resonant assignments. The PDF versions we downloaded do not do justice to the original maps.

Claire S

Students: Carly, Max, Emma, Zack, Michelle, and Carly
(Samantha Spencer)

Kurt H

Students: Ashton, Abby, Grant, Jordana, Hannah, and Ben
(Tiffany Cohen)

Susan W

Students: Morgan, Harrison, Jonah, Caleb, and Ilana
(Rebecca McVeigh and Jacob Labendz)

Arthur R

Students: Sarah, Aidan, Dylan, Emily, and Shelby
(Ben Berman)

We would like to thank the Fortunoff Video Archive, Beth Haverim Shir Shalom, Rabbi Ilana Schwartzman, Director of Education Rebecca McVeigh, Maddie Zech (Center Intern), Hope DeWitt (Center Intern), and BHSS teachers Tiffany Cohen, Samantha Spencer, and Ben Berman.